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Sturgeon gained more votes (1164) on the night but his Labour opposition (1029) secured victory at stage 6, following the application of the election rules – the single transferable vote (STV).

When asked if the defeat would deter him from standing in future council elections, Mr Sturgeon replied: “No, I’ll be standing again in May hopefully.

Ahead of the announcement (Image: Steve McKendrick)

“I still think we did quite well because we came first in the first preference votes and it was only the transfers that i would say, without going into detail, I think the Labour-Tory alliance is alive and well.

“I’d like to thank the people of Irvine who gave me their vote and I’m sorry that it didn’t work out in the end.”

Louise McPhater said that she wanted to put Irvine back on the map following her victory.